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Using and Expanding Upon the Resources of Established Local Groups and COOPs
Using and Expanding Upon the Resources of Established Local Groups and COOPs
Currently, several locally managed co-operatives ("coops") exist in the many villages in the region. These pools of money are raised from the locals and are used to disburse incidental loans to members at irregular interest rates and payment schemes. In addition, there are barriers to accessing these loans based on gender, caste, socioeconomic status and knowledge gaps. Instead of trying to create a parallel micro-loan system that would both benefit the population of Accham and potentially provide revenue for the clinic, we plan to expand and integrate the coops by training the managers on efficient disbursements, streamlining the application process to eliminate access barriers and connecting the local coops allowing villagers in need from one locality to tap resources from another. We will engage donors with the capability to expand the capital of the coops, thus increasing the scope from incidental loans to micro-finance. Training on how to create and submit microcredit loan applications can also be delivered via tele-education from qualified teachers abroad and in larger cities within Nepal. The mission will be expanding and connecting these isolated capital bases, increasing efficiency, improving management and decreasing barriers to accessing these loans.
Thus our two main goals will be capacity building of existing coops in addition to uniting coops into a single larger and stronger institution.
Capacity Building
Capacity building involves facilitating coops to manage themselves more efficiently and effectively by helping them set their own goals and priorities for growth and ensure that they succeed in accomplishing such goals.
Potential Partners for Capacity Building
In our efforts, partnering with select NGOs within the Accham/Doti region may also prove useful. A list of potential NGOs can be found at http://www.cbwssp.gov.np/NGOs/first.pdf. We may also want to solicit the help of The NGO/CBO Participatory Learning and Advisory Project (NPLAP) which aims to improve the lives of the poor and disadvantaged people by building the capacity of NGOs and CBOs (website on NPLAP's guide to capacity building in Nepal: http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:tHbIW92K-0kJ:www.livelihoods.org/lessons/docs/Asia_Workshop_rtf/ARLW_Rai.doc+NGO/CBO+Participatory+Learning+and+Advisory+Project+nepal&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us). As they have had experience on assessing the needs of NGO staff training in Doti, we should also consider soliciting the help of WSP International Management Consulting to help organize the training of coop members and all involved staff on proper management skills. According to their 2003 needs assessment found at (http://www.rapnepal.com/1.2%20District%20Information/EDITED%20Overview%20%20NGO%20training%20needs%20assessments%20(PDF).pdf), training should be provided in “social mobilisation, group formation and motivation, conflict management focusing on dispute resolution, monitoring and supervision, use of various forms and registers, account keeping, savings and credit, rights based advocacy, gender issues, leadership development and group organisation.” It is important to note that there is no single right way to go about developing a methodical understanding of good practice in CBO capacity building. Adopting a flexible approach which embraces diversity and complexity, is critical to creating a working model.
Guide to Capacity Building
Below is a summarized and modified guide to capacity building of community based organizations (CBOs) which include aforementioned coops. The questions and conclusions are taken from ACORD's manual to Capacity Building for CBOs, based on their work with CBOs in Botswana. The manual can be found at
Key Questions/Issues to Consider in Capacity Building
1. How do we decide whose capacity to build and what kind of capacity to build? 2. How do we ensure that our capacity building activities are both accessible and appropriate to a large number of diverse individuals and groups? 3. How do we ensure that our field staff have the skills necessary to deliver a very wide range of different types of training? 4. How do we ensure consistent accompaniment (coaching and follow up) when we are working with dozens of different groups in a given area? 5. How do we provide material support for “learning by doing” without creating dependency? 6. How do we ensure that capacity building work helps to reduce inequality within groups and communities rather than reinforcing it? 7. How do we link practical skills development with empowering people to tackle the higher level factors which contribute to poverty and marginalization?
Steps for Developing an Overall Capacity-Building Strategy
1. Facilitate participatory research to identify the different social and interest groups which exist in a locality/community, and the relations between them. 2. Identify which of these groups are already organized in formal or informal CBOs and which are not. 3. Facilitate a participatory assessment of group capacity-building priorities for existing CBOs, to feed into institutional capacity development plans. 4. Facilitate a participatory assessment of practical and strategic needs and interests of individuals and groups who are not organized in CBOs, helping them to identify where establishing CBOs, joining existing CBOs, or establishing other more informal groups to support individual capacity development would be appropriate. 5. Negotiate the capacity-building plan with the communities and groups concerned, taking care to be transparent about the criteria used.
Steps for Developing a Specific Group Capacity-Building Plan
1. Identify the objective(s) of the group and of its members. 2. Analyze whether the group exists to benefit its own members only, or whether it has a wider role. 3. If the group has a “governance” or representative function, identify which relationships it depends on for its legitimacy (community, traditional leaders, government agencies) and how these could be strengthened. 4. Identify the external actors with whom the group must deal in pursuing its objective(s). 5. Identify the individual capacities which are priorities for enabling group members to meet their needs/pursue their interests. 6. Identify the group capacities which are priorities for enabling the group to function well internally. 7. Identify the analytical, representation, communication and/or advocacy capacities which are priorities for enabling the group to develop its relations with the outside world and influence others effectively. 8. Rank the relative importance to group members of the different capacities at each of the three levels. 9. Identify links between capacities (prerequisites, mutually reinforcing elements). 10. Identify the level of development the group and/or its members wish to achieve in these different capacities in the short, medium and long term. 11. Assess the current level of development of the group and/or its members in these different capacities. 12. Establish what processes and inputs will be necessary to help the group and/or its members progress from their current to their desired levels of capacity (short / medium / long term), and put these together in a plan. 13. Work out how much time and what other resources (a) the group’s members and (b) Nyaya staff will be able to put into implementing the plan. 14. Based on the above, agree desired outcomes and monitoring indicators/processes, set milestones and establish commitments. 15. Start implementing the plan, but remember that it is not a blueprint and make sure that reflection and review are built into the process.
Summary for Capacity Building
-Make sure the goals set come mainly from the Coops and community members themselves, as determined by intensive research -Ensure that the goals help improve equality rather that enforcing inequalities -Minimize opportunity cost of involvement in the NGO for the poorest of poor -Build on existing livelihood activities so as to consolidate them rather than making additions -Help coops do rather than showing them or telling them how -Master small things rather than dabbling in many things -Try to use horizontal capacity building, rather than using outside experts, use other groups/people/NGOs -Be responsive and flexible in the goals and methods -Have a defined mechanism for periodic review of progress and goals -Provide all relevant information to open people's eyes
Additional Resources on Capacity Building http://www.scdp.org.np/pub/ar99/chap04.htm
http://www.cbwssp.gov.np/NGOs/first.pdf
Past Example of Integration of Smaller CBOs into Larger Networks
In attempting to develop strategies for capacity building and integrating and connecting coops, it is important to look at previous examples that somewhat parallel our situation. Concern Worldwide attempted to help in the organization and economic development of Khaliajuri a very poor, economically and politically marginalized, frequently flooded and largely homeless region of Bangladesh. Below are applicable key points and conclusions drawn from the Haor Rural Development Programme, as it is called, abstracted from their report found at http://www.concern.net/docs/casestudies/Khaliajuri%20Case%20Study%20-%20Final,%20171104.pdf
-The Rural Development Program works with landless and marginal farmers and especially with women. The program aims to organize landless men and women, build solidarity and co-operation among the target group, promote economic and social development and improve their organizational ability -Through group formation, group members and their families participate in functional education, non-formal primary education, savings and credit schemes, water and sanitation development, income generation, and health and afforestation activities. -Facilitated the formation of 15 member groups, which then combined to form various village organizations. Vast majority of group members were women. The main original goal of the group was to serve for savings and credit -Some groups collapsed due to migration and internal conflict -Extra effort was made to include the poorest, since self selecting groups may not include the poorest, since they fear having to make regular payments. The poorest of the poor were individually recruited by group members already in the group. -Village organizations (VOs) were created as federations of the smaller groups 2 years after the original groups were created. -The Function of VOs is as follows:: -The underlying principle behind the formation of VOs is to provide support to groups within their respective villages. -VOs play a role in resolving disputes within and between groups as well as in the wider community. -VOs are supporting the groups that are unable to maintain their group accounts. -VOs are assisting groups in conflict resolution, credit recovery, yearly planning and decision- making. -VOs are exchanging information, combining resources and getting involved in business collectively. -VOs offer loans to groups and maintaining communication with banks. -Finally, VOs are building up links with government offices and local services. -VOs eventually decided to combine forces and make a Federation whose purpose is to achieve a M Significant Problems with the Process: -10% of small groupsfailed -Problems in maintenance of accounts: those trained struggled with accounting of large sums of money. As a result, confusion prevailed among the group members about the accuracy and credibility of accounts. -Malpractice by group leaders: some group leaders took money from the group fund for their own purposes or disbursed loans to their own people violating group rules and regulations. -Non repayment of credit installments by group members: group members said that, after Concern phased out, they were not accountable to anyone so a structural issue was identified and later solved. -Formation of VOs with male and female groups: Female group members complained that in this type of VO, men generally took the most important positions and underestimated women’s capacities.
Recommendations:
1. Before Federations can work, Concern needs to strengthen its Adult Literacy and non-formal education components. (Action Aid’s REFLECT method may be worth investigating). 2. In addition to formal training, Concern might consider some refresher training for staff in facilitation skills. 3. In any future programme, Concern should consider giving more support to Village Organisations, as thesebodies have considerable potential. At present VOs have an important social function for instance in raising funds for members facing sudden financial crisis. They could be far more active in village level advocacy work – for instance in joining school management committees and using these structures to monitor whether or not teachers come to school. 6. Any new programme would need a stronger research and advocacy component. In relation to research the report suggests in particular that such research should look in more detail at the exact returns that people receive from different forms of income generation. Advocacy should be taken up in relation to any perceived external threats to livelihoods in the area. 7. The evaluation also suggests that without necessarily using the language of ‘rights’ Concern needs to get a better understanding of the local power structure and, working closely with VOs and Federations, increase its advocacy work at village, union, district, & national levels with the aim of maintaining pressure on government to improve services. |
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